Love, hate and everything in between
by Emag0911
Summary: "It's okay Todoroki." The owner of the voice then stepped out and instantly Shoto knew why this man looked so familiar to him. It's because he is the father of one of his classmates. Why else would Momo Yaoyorozu be standing in house with a look of pure defeat on her face. Momo forced a smile adding, "I want to make my family proud."
1. Prologue

Shoto hated days like today. Hated standing outside this office. Hated the feelings of unease. Hated that he had to feel that in his own home. But how else was he to feel as he knocked on the large and heavy wooden door to his father's office.

"You're late!" Boomed Enji Todoroki, the worlds number two ranked hero; codenamed Endeavor and also Shotos father. He wasn't late Shoto knew, this was just the usual greeting the man called Endeavor gave his only son and one day successor.

"Nice to see you too" Shoto said as way of reply.

"Do you know why I called you here today?" Asked Enji as he stood behind his desk, arms behind his back as he looked out the window in front of him. Shoto thought he looked so smug the way he stood there. The light from the bright sun shining in from the window casting him in shadow. He looked powerful and he knew it. It was all for dramatics Shoto thought then. All for his father's colossal ego.

"No. But I bet it's important." Shoto said sarcastically. The growl his father give in response wasn't lost on the boy. He felt a moments pride at frustrating the man in front of him.

"It is." His father turned to face him for the first time since Shoto walked in. "It's in regard to your future, I've made a decision." Enji placed his large hands on his desk and continued. "I know you'll one day surpass All Might and become the new number one hero, that's why we must go a step even farther." Enji walked from behind the desk then, putting his hands on shotos shoulders. "we must now secure your legacy, and in turn secure mine as well."

Before shoto can reply Enji continued "I've chosen for you a bride."

Shoto's eyes went wide with shock. "You can't be serious!" He all but yelled. Shoto kept his calm however, he refused to let his anger show in front of his father. "There's no way in hell I'll put someone through the same thing you put mom through." If the man known as Endeavor took offense he did not show it.

Before Shoto could argue any farther there was a knock at the door. A small smile (or smirk) appeared on the Enji's face. "they're here" he said to Shoto before he called to the door "come in."

And in walked Shoto's presumed future father-in-law. The man wore what looked to be a very expensive suit. His hair was short and slicked back. He was built thick and looked strong and what's more this new visitor looked familiar for some reason. He had to have been a pro hero like Shoto's father. There's no way the great Enji Todoroki would settle for anything less, no matter how unique this mans daughters quirk must be.

"You must be Shoto" The suited man said by way of greeting, "I know my daughter will make a fine wife to you."

Then promptly turning his attention to Enji, he said "And their offspring will serve both of our families well." Enji nodded his agreement.

Shoto looked from the stranger to his father and back again. He was trying so hard to not erupt. 'How can this man talk about his own child like that.' Shoto felt steam coming off of is left side and the chill of frost on his right side.

"Why would you want this for your daughter?" Shoto said through gritted teeth. The shock of the stranger in front of him was noticeable, but before he could say more a small voice chimed in from behind the man.

"It's okay Todoroki." The owner of the voice then stepped out and instantly Shoto knew why this man looked so familiar to him. It's because he is the father of one of his classmates. Why else would Momo Yaoyorozu be standing in house with a look of pure defeat on her face.

Momo forced a smile adding, "I want to make my family proud."

-To be continued.


	2. Visions past and future

"Shoto why don't you take your new fiancé for a walk while Mr. Yaoyorozu and I work out the details?"

Shotos chest tightened in that moment. 'They're serious.' Claustrophobic feelings took hold. 'This is happening'. If there's one thing Shoto hated more than anything it was feeling helpless. It's not something that happens often to the hero to be. If this were combat practice or a training exercise his mind would be racing with moves he could make or at the very least a long shot of a strategy to try. But this wasn't training. This wasn't combat, mock or otherwise. This was real life and in real life you can't punch your way to a solution.

Momo must have sensed the tension inside of Shoto because he felt her gentle hands wrap around his arm, lightly tugging him toward he exit. "Come on. Take me somewhere. Anywhere."

Shoto shrugged out of her hold and without a word walked out he door. Once in the hall Shoto felt slightly better. He could breath a little easier but it was short lived however. Before Momo could even close the door behind her the two worst candidates for father of the year could be heard in lively conversation, Shoto couldn't make out particulars but the boisterous laugh he heard from both men as Momo closed the office door was enough to set the young Todoroki off again.

"They're selling us like cattle!" Shoto said to himself, his feet then just started moving. If Momo heard, she didn't reply. She just quietly followed as he walked with no destination in mind.

Memories flood Shotos mind. He remembers a young boy with white and red hair crying on the floor. A worried mother pleading an angry father to 'go easy.' Shoto remembers seeing her crying too. Shoto remembers that the father didn't go easier, if it was possible he pushed harder. The red and white haired boy being hit so hard in the stomach he vomited. The mother with her gentle eyes and soft hands holding the boy. The television showing the latest heroisms of All Might and his valiant smile in the face of what was most certainly doom. 'Its fine now. Why? Because am here!' Shoto remember the heat from that television after it exploded at his fathers rage and jealously. Remembered panicked phone conversations between that gentle mother and her own parents, 'he's becoming more and more like him. I don't know what to do'. Most vividly it seemed, Shoto remembered the look on her life worn face as he fought him eavesdropping. The whistle of a tea kettle and the mother's lunging hands that didn't seem so gentle anymore. His face still burned even in present as he remembered boiling hot water.

Shoto pictures himself as that father. Full of ego and pride. Sees Momo as a mentally broken mother trying her best to take the brunt of his fury. Shoto hears the cries of his children as he molds them into twisted versions of his own father Endeavor. It's all too much. 'The cycle was supposed to end with me.' Shoto never saw himself getting married. What use would he be to a romantic partner anyway? What could he offer except a generation worth of neglect and abuse. 'It was supposed to end with me.'

"Todoroki?" a voice called gently from behind him. He turned almost too quickly as he realized he had completely forgotten about Momo.

Shoto shook his head. He looked around to see where his feet had taken him and he's not surprised at all to find himself in his mother's garden. He and his siblings had been taking care of the area since their mother was sent away. This place with its neatly trimmed hedges and various bright and healthy flowers had always given him a sense of calm. He felt close to his mother there, and would spend many afternoons there meditating or just relaxing with a good book.

"This place is beautiful" Momo said as she walked farther in to the garden. Her careful hands cupping a rose, leaning in and taking in its sweet aroma. How many times had he seen his mother admire those flowers in the same fashion.

It felt wrong seeing her there somehow. As if it were a vision of what's to come. 'Will my own children come here to retreat from me? He had to get away from that image. Shoto's face turned hard.

"You said you were okay with this, but you don't look it. So how do you really feel?" Said Shoto, his voice sharper than he intend, and he felt a pang of guilt at the look of discomfort she wore. Momo, for her part said nothing in return. Her silence was annoying him.

"Yaoyorozu!" He called out this time however the frustration that came across in his tone was intentional. This time Momo winced. Shoto took a breath, this wasn't her fault he reminded himself.

"Talk to me Momo." His voice was its usual calm and monotone then, if not slightly more gentle.

"I got in to the UA on recommendation, my family put their reputation on the line for my benefit" Momo started but stopped to seemingly collect her thoughts. After a quick intake of air she continued "but I'm failing."

"Double check your facts. Your GPA is higher than mine."

"ITS NOT ABOUT ACADEMICS." Momo yelled back. "You saw what happened at the sports festival, I got beat in less than ten seconds." Single tear fell from her cheek. "You don't know how embarrassed they were. That match was broadcasted on world wide T.V. It's all over the internet now."

It was Shotos turn to be speechless now. Momo continued "even my mentor was a joke. I just smiled for the camera and dressed pretty. My father blamed me for not being chosen by a superior agency. I can't keep letting them down." More tears fell then but were quickly whipped away.

Shoto had always held a great respect for Momo Yaoyorozu, so to see her then trying so hard to hold it together in front of him, made Shoto break just a bit. He hadn't thought of her feelings at all. Too preoccupied with his own pain and fear to see anything else. Shoto had been selfish, this situation wasn't her fault. In so many ways she was as lost as he was, which he thought, was why he did what he did next. Shoto closed the distance between them and pulled Momo into his arms. His embrace was meant to say what he could not and she returned the hug in kind wrapping her arms around his neck, letting the tears finally fall and the sobs escape. Minutes passed like that, the two broken teens just holding one another. God it was amazing. Swimming in the feel and the scent of Momo Yaoyorozu. It was a comfort Shoto had never felt before and it was over all too soon.

"Please" Momo said, her face buried in his neck. "Just try. Let's both just try. We can make this work, I cant fail at this too."

'I can't ' Shoto thought, 'I just can't.' Despite all of his resolve, all of his determination. 'I can't reject her. Not like this.' Shoto pulled Momo from his arms.

"Okay. We'll give this a shot." He said to her. 'Okay. Now I'm a liar' he thought to himself.

Shoto Todoroki will never marry Momo Yaoyorozu because when he thinks of his vicious family cycle he vows 'it will end with me.'

-To be continued.


End file.
